Once again, combat robots from
around the world made the
annual pilgrimage to California to
fight for the glory of the ComBots
Cup — a giant trophy coveted by
builders the way hockey players
covet the Stanley Cup.

The fifth annual ComBots Cup combat robot
championship took place October 23-24, ‘ 10 in San Mateo,
CA. Dozens of old favorites, as well as some new faces,
turned out for the all-combat robot event, with fighting in
weight classes from tiny five ounce bots to 220 pound
behemoths.

There was a prize purse of $3,500, plus possession for
one year of the ComBots Cup itself for the winner – 220
pounds of trophy-shaped stainless steel sex appeal which
makes the Stanley Cup look like a Dixie cup. Roughly 130
combat robot builders from about 40 teams gathered
together over the weekend in the spirit of sportsmanship,
camaraderie, and all-out robotic devastation.

Builders came from as far as Brazil and the UK to see
whose robot would reign supreme in each of the eight
weight classes, and whose would have to go home in a
small series of boxes. A total of 54 robots across the eight
weight classes registered for the big event, with 13
registering for the heavyweight championship – although

40 SERVO 01.2011

only 11 of the 13 ended up being able to compete.

“We really look forward to this every year, but this
year’s event shows that the tournament and robots are just
getting better,” said Simone Davalos, co-founder of both
ComBots LLC and co-founder of the International
RoboGames — a springtime Olympics-style event for robots
which ComBots co-organizes. “We had a great roster of
robots from around the USA, and we even had a few
coming from further than that. We also had really great
audience turnout as well, especially considering the rainy
weather.”
“Combat robots as a sport is growing so dramatically,
we’re very pleased to see kids and adults alike get involved.
For the kids, it’s a great way to learn science and
engineering, and for the adults it’s just a lot of fun to